Google Prevails Over Oracle in Java API, Android Copyright Case

eWeek: Judge William Alsup has ruled in Google’s favor in the last remaining issue in the Android-Java copyright and patent case. Alsup said that the specific Java APIs Google used to create Android were not protected by copyright. Essentially, the ruling determined that because Google forked Java, it did need need to purchase a license from Oracle. “This order does not hold that Java API packages are free for all to use without license,” Alsup clarified. “It does not hold that the structure, sequence, and organization of all computer programs may be stolen. Rather, it holds on the specific facts of this case, the particular elements replicated by Google were free for all to use under the Copyright Act.”

Oracle plans to appeal the ruling “vigorously.”